


Dormina

by Brightwing



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Series
Genre: No Dialogue, No Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 13:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3384209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightwing/pseuds/Brightwing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in this haven in the rift, where time seems to have ceased moving altogether, weary teenagers, bears, dogs, and robots still need to sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dormina

**Author's Note:**

> This literally only exists because the question "...but where do they sleep???" kept bothering me.
> 
> I also don't remember the actual layout of Yasogami High so sorry about any mistakes regarding that.

One of the downsides of being stuck in an eternal cultural festival was the fact that places where one could sleep were extraordinarily scarce. And when there's a lot of you who all need sleep at roughly the same time, it gets even harder to find one. So when Ken yawned and started to nod off in the rooftop food court, everyone started to realize how _sleepy_ they all were.

They took the time to debate what they should do. At first, Akihiko suggested sleeping in shifts, but Mitsuru argued that there was no benefit to such a thing. Outside of the labyrinths, they were completely safe and the entire group needed to be awake and active at the same time in order for them to function properly. Naoto agreed with Mitsuru's assessment, it was to their benefit, she explained, that everyone synchronized their sleeping schedules as close as possible to maximize their time.

As she said this, she stared straight at the SEES field leader, who only tilted his head and looked back at her in return as if he had no idea why she seemed to be singling him out in particular.

Eventually, they come to accept the fact that there is really no plan for this other than splitting up and trying to find a quiet place where they could all get some shut eye. They agreed that they would all meet up again after everyone's woken up. They would have set a more precise time interval, but keeping track of time in this haven in the rift, where the sun shined eternally and they weren't sure they could trust their watches or cellphone clocks, was difficult. Meeting adjourned, they began to break off in small groups searching for places they could settle down for what would probably be night, were they back in their own world.

Theodore generously offered to let people sleep in the Handicraft Workshop, but the art room was just far too noisy. The sound of him pounding on materials haphazardly until they somehow changed into the shapes of items and equipment made far too much of a racket. Margaret forbade anyone from sleeping in the Velvet Room, not even the Wild Cards. While they were, indeed, guests of the Velvet Room, there was a such thing as overstaying one's welcome. Marie enforced any attempts to debate this mandate with a cold glare. Elizabeth said that the Nurse's Office was open to anyone needing sleep. It was, after all, a place where people went to get their wounds treated and recover from illness. It even had a bed. However, no one took her up on her generous offer, as no one would dare sleep in Elizabeth's domain.

Outside of Yasogami High, there is a secluded shaded alcove, away from the noise of the festival's outdoor activities. This spot was claimed by Teddie and Koromaru. The bear was lying on his back, snoring loudly while the dog was curled up on top of him, unaffected or perhaps even lulled to sleep by the gentle rising and falling of Teddie's belly. Occasionally, Teddie muttered something about topcicles and girls and scoring. Koromaru's ears twitched every time he did, but remained asleep.

Inside the Yasogami gymnasium, several booths and stands had been set up, each peddling souvenirs like masks and handmade accessories at inflated prices. The locker rooms, however, was relatively quiet. Akihiko fell asleep in the boys' locker room, on one of the benches inside. He was lying on his back, one leg bent, the other straight, and he rested his head on one arm while the other lay across his eyes to shield them from the fluorescent lighting. It's not the first time he's slept in the locker room and it would not be the last. He doesn't snore, but he takes deep breaths while he sleeps which could be heard when one leaned in and listened.

Fortunately for the mortals that need rest, the culture festival didn't reach across the entirety of the school grounds. There were quiet hallways and empty classrooms far enough away from the festivities to allow a person to sleep. One of these rooms is the music room which, despite its name, is rather silent. Naoto was the first to discover to choose the room, and Yosuke and Junpei joined her afterwards. Naoto had chosen a spot along one of the walls, drenched in a warm beam of sunlight. She was seated on the floor, arms and legs crossed. Her hat had fallen over her eyes, or perhaps she pulled it down in order to minimize the sunlight. To her left, Yosuke had pulled over a chair and was sleeping in it, arms also crossed and his head nodded forward with his headphones pulled over his ears. With careful listening, the music from them could be heard.

To Naoto's right was Junpei, lying haphazardly on his side. His baseball cap had fallen off, resting upside down a few inches from his head. After Naoto had fallen asleep, he settled down to sleep next to "sweet little Nao-cakes" and in her sleep, she had shoved him away. Neither of them woke up from it. Junpei's snores filled the room and a bit of drool could be seen in the corner of his mouth.

Not far away is the drama room, Yukari, Mitsuru, Chie, and Yukiko decided to sleep after evicting Junpei and Yosuke with the threat of a triple elemental execution. Mitsuru slept much like Naoto, against a wall with both her arms and legs crossed. Yukari was nearby, but with a bit of space between them, as if she didn't want to be too close to her senpai. Yukiko lined up several chairs to form a makeshift bed and she was sleeping on her side, her back to the door. Despite her prim, proper, and demure appearance, she snores loudly. Chie sat at the end of Yukiko's bed of chairs, also snoring. Together, the two of them make quite a racket and it's a wonder that Yukari and Mitsuru could stand to sleep near them.

Shinjiro decided to sleep in the stairwell leading up to the second floor, hands in his pockets and not at all caring about the mindless shades of students that walked past him to use the stairs. He's used to people walking all around him when he sleeps and fact that the students ignore him completely makes it easier than when he sleeps on the street in the real world. Shinjiro didn't move at all when he slept and only by leaning in close could a slight rise and fall of his chest be seen.

On the second floor, one of the second year classrooms was empty. Ken and Kanji were inside, both of them slumped over desks fast asleep. Ken was the first to fall asleep, almost immediately out like a light the moment he sat down. Kanji had draped his barely worn uniform jacket over Ken, although the boy did not really need much in the way of warmth with that orange hoodie he always wore. In Ken's hands was a small, handmade plush cat with exaggerated proportions, as if cartoony. The cat was black and wore both a bandana and a mischievous smile, as if it were up to something. Ken didn't need any dolls to sleep, but when Kanji quietly placed it on the desk next to him, he unconsciously grabbed it, pulling it close.

Kanji, on the other hand, clutched a stuffed dog he made himself. The dog was white and grey with red eyes and a curly tail. The dog wore a shirt with wings on the shoulders and a red armband with the letters SEES sewn onto it. There was even a collar on the dog, a special model made especially for it. No one knows when Kanji found both the materials and the time to make such a thing, but the quality of the craftsmanship was top notch.

The classroom across the hall was also empty, and it's where Fuuka and Rise decided to sleep. There wass a special bond between them that no one else can understand, made from being the one who always has to stay behind and look out for everyone else. To be the one who had to watch everything from afar and wish you were there when things got dire. To be the one who knew that even if you were there, there would be nothing you could do, because you couldn't fight. But now that they knew they weren't the only ones left behind and that there was someone there with them. To know that they weren't the only one saddled with that burden is what drew them to each other and formed a powerful bond between them. And that is why the two of them slept curled up next to each other, as if they had years of friendship between them.

Aigis stood in the stairwell leading up to the third floor, her eyes dulled and staring forward blankly in sleep mode. Again, students walked past her as if she wasn't there. She had decided this was the optimal place to be, as if something happened on either the third or second floors, she could respond quickly to the situation. The first floor was also easily accessible, she would simply just need to run down an additional flight of stairs were a situation to arise down there as well.

The third floor was much like the second, filled with booths and displays. It also had its share of quiet spots and empty classrooms. On the west side of Yasogami High's third floor, Zen and Rei slept peacefully together against a wall, the former using his cape to wrap around the latter and pull her closer to both keep her warm and keep her safe. Zen and Rei never thought that much about sleeping, simply finding a quiet spot to doze off whenever they were tired. Thanks to them, however, they were able to provide suggestions to the others on where they could sleep.

On the east side of the third floor was one last empty classroom, the one last room that wasn't occupied by anyone else. Here, two weary leaders have settled down after traversing the entirety of the Yasogami High. Not only were they searching for an unoccupied place to sleep, they had decided to not sleep themselves until they were certain everyone else was. Even though one was not confident in his position as a leader and the other liked to claim that he didn't care and it was too much work, a leader took care of his own. The classroom was dark, save for one corner where the sunlight shone in through a window and that's the spot they chose, leaning against each other comfortably.

They didn't fall asleep right away and took the time to idly talk for an hour about everything and nothing at all until Souji realized Minato was no longer answering his questions and had fallen fast asleep on his shoulder. He laughed to himself and bid his new friend goodnight before closing his eyes himself.

Hours later, everyone woke up one by one, but when they found their leaders still sound asleep, they decided they could give them another hour. After all, leaders have it tough.

**Author's Note:**

> This probably has some tense problems as while I was writing I randomly shifted to present tense. I tried my best to correct them, but please let me know if any were missed, thank you.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Collected Warmth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3665103) by [Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter)




End file.
